Some information are crucial for life, before coming to USA I knew what 911 was because of its repetition in the movies, on TV, etc. But I didn't know what the numbers of Turkish police or the ambulance were. The lack of social awareness is one of the main problems of Turkey. And maybe anywhere else. So with a similar theme to "the Map of Awareness" I decided to use another everyday medium in order to communicate the information without boring but repeatedly: in Turkey coffee and tea houses are popular especially among younger generation and men. And in those houses playing cards is a typical and popular activity. So I am in the process of designing playing cards involving some information and social and cultural messages about domestic abuse and violence, education, disasters, emergencies, etc... .




Bazi bilgiler hayat icin vazgecilmezdir, Amerikaya gelmeden once 911'in ne oldugu aklima tlevizyon, filmler, vs. vasitasiyla kazinmisti. Ancak Turk polis ve ambulansinin numaralarini bilmiyordum. Sosyal farkindaligin eksikligi Turkiyenin en buyuk problemlerinden biri. Farkindalik haritasina benzer bir sekilde gunluk bir araci iletisim icin tercih ettim.




*"The Map of Awareness" has been selected & sponsored for the contemporary art show "A Monopoly of a Legend- 1870Beyoglu2000" in Istanbul/ Turkey. And It has been and will be printed, distributed and actually be used from 29 September 2000 through 6 January 2001.

Kortun, Vasif. "Responses". Art Journal. Winter, 1999, pg:4.